STRADDIE – A DISASTER IN THE
MAKING
Photograph by Darryl Haines.
North Stradbroke Island, or
Straddie as it’s mostly called is a long, narrow island off the coast of south
east Queensland. It has no bridge
connection to the mainland and can only be reached by fast water taxi, or a 45
minute vehicle barge ferry from Cleveland.
The island, home to a large
population of native fauna, has been inhabited by its traditional owners for
many centuries. Most of the island is dense national park with
a scattering of sand mines. The island
itself is sparsely populated with just three townships, Amity Point, Point
Lookout and the slightly larger bayside arrival town of Dunwich. Each of the towns has its own Rural Fire
Brigade comprising local volunteers familiar with the island’s terrain.
Straddie is blessed with a
pristine beauty stretching from a small rain forest tucked away at its
southernmost tip to a lush hidden fern valley at the north; bush and forest is interspersed
by the mysterious and deep Blue Lake in the island’s middle, and the tea tree
tinted serenity of Brown Lake across from the pine forest. Surrounding all this
beauty and diversity are mile upon mile of sandy ocean beach and bay. It is no wonder the island is so popular with
holiday makers.
The Island’s normal population
fluctuates around the 2000 or so mark, but come the holiday season and it
swells into the 40,000 mark or even more, mostly campers who on arrival quickly
disperse to become absorbed into the camping sites around the three townships
and along the ocean side to the southern tip at Jumpinpin. The campers come to fish and to surf and many
are second and even third generation visitors…such is the island’s magnetic charm.
THE FIRE STARTS
The island is no stranger to bush fires mostly they flare up in largely
inaccessible bush and are monitored until they run their course, as was the
case on December 3rd when fire crews attended a bushfire
burning about 2 km south of the Yarraman Mine.
The fire, burning within containment lines posed no threat to property
and three days later was extinguished with the Queensland Fire and Emergency
Services (QFES) announcing the reopening of two bush thoroughfares, Tripod and
Fishermans tracks: Apparently though, remnants of this fire lay hidden,
smouldering away in isolated scrub.
Fast forward now to 29th
December as storms target the southern part of the island and a lightning
strike sets off a fire in bushland around the vicinity of Blue Lake. QFES advises
there is currently no threat to people or homes and that protection lines have
been established around the nearby electrical substation. As a precaution campers at Main Beach to the
south of the island are advised of the situation by rangers and told to prepare
contingency plans...in case!
Monday 30th December: The
lightning strike fire in the vicinity of Blue Lake and the 18 mile Swamp
continues to grow in intensity as firefighters battle the blaze, but still the fire
is in a remote part of the bush and presents no immediate threat to property or
life. Nearby campers are kept informed
and advised Tazi Road has been closed and the only beach access available is
further north at the Pt Lookout exit.
As campers and residents alike do
at this time of year preparations are well in hand for celebrating the New
Year.
Tuesday 31st December
– New Years Eve: the situation is changing rapidly; burning embers have
spiralled skyward to start afresh in distant parts of the bush; the embers can and do project anything up to 4km. The fires have escalated sending thick smoke
across Brisbane’s northern suburbs. Urgent
plans are now put in place to evacuate holidaymakers from Main Beach.
CAMPERS EVACUATED
The Tazi Road crosses the waist of the island joining Dunwich in the
west to the causeway or ocean beach exit on the east coast. Built in the early
days of mining the name is coined from the two giant dredges that once worked
mine sites along the 18 mile swamp, the Titania and the Zirconia. There is some
confusion for visitors, the Tazi has been renamed the Alfred Martin Way deservedly
honouring an Elder of earlier days prominent in the affairs of the Island. Both
names are now being quoted.
Wednesday 1st January 2014 – New Year: The Tazi Road is re-opened and a steady
stream of vehicles begin the long trek from the southern camp sites to the
Causeway exit. Their progress is marked
by police and ranger escort the fire and exodus now gaining exposure on
television news.
In Dunwich the community hall, an historical building dating back to
earlier days in the 19th and 20th Century when the town
was the site of the Dunwich Benevolent Society Asylum for the Aged, is
preparing for the influx of 900 and more campers. Local Red Cross volunteers
set up refreshment booths with tea, coffee and food. All evacuees will be
registered and checked against camp site booking details. No one will be left behind. Additional barges
are arriving at the ferry terminal nearby to aid the evacuation.
Camping sites in the three towns Dunwich, Amity Point and Point Lookout
are all fully booked, in other words there is no more room at the inn and for
the hapless campers now streaming into Dunwich their summer holiday is over: For some it had barely even begun.
Thursday 2nd January 2014:
The fire is gaining momentum and has already destroyed three of the
abandoned camp sites and damaged power lines, effectively cutting supply to all
of Straddie. We, my reluctant traveller and me,
like many other island residents who hibernate in reclusion when the holiday
influx reaches huge proportions are largely unaware of the unfolding
drama. It takes a while even to realise
we’ve lost power. The blackout lasts 18 hours.
Friday 3rd January 2014: The smoke is becoming more noticeable
and beginning to drift over mainland Brisbane.
Two more spot fires flare up, one threatening the radar tower near the
Tazi/Alfred Martin Way the other on the southern bayside part of the island
near the Canaipa Passage. The word gets
round that a community meeting has been called primarily to keep Dunwich
residents up to date on the fire’s development.
These briefings will become daily affairs. The islands over extended local
police have been augmented with mainland specialists in control and
communication: The Redlands City Council have put their staff on site helping
smooth the way for the influx of machinery and manpower. Energex assure they
are doing all they can to repair power lines. We become aware of the wide scope
of the fires, three of them now, the
small long smouldering fire south of Yarraman has sprung into life with a
vengeance, but so far the mood is upbeat, containment lines strong, no talk
of evacuation.
Saturday 4th January 2014: We wake to a hot sweltering day
with high temperatures in the 40’s forecast.
A wind change is expected in the afternoon and the situation is
beginning to look more urgent. Heavy smoke and fumes are becoming evident. Extra fire fighting crews and State Emergency
Service personnel begin to arrive from the mainland along with helicopters
specially equipped to water bomb the flames.
Power is suddenly lost in all three towns for the second time and
though we don’t know it this blackout will last another 18 hours. Along with many other neighbours we have our
own emergency generator, but ours hasn’t been used for a number of years and
fails to crank up. Luckily we have a gas
stove to cook on and a handy stash of candles.
Energex struggling to restore power and recognizing the enormity of the
unfolding disaster has begun shipping in the first of a number of huge
emergency generators. These will be placed in strategic positions, firstly to
provide power to Moopi, the hospital for the aged, and then to the central
business area to ensure supply of essential foods, and then eventually to link private
homes. Other generators will be deployed to both Amity and the Point. We’re aware of our freezer full of recently
caught fish and hope it survives the passing hours.
Firefighters struggle to establish containment lines around the island’s
tiny airfield; campers in the popular but difficult to access Blakesly Slip on
the western bayside are ordered to leave as flames push north. The expected wind change has arrived putting
Dunwich clearly in the fire’s path. Now
backburning begins in earnest and a huge pall of smoke billows above the
island, the smoke drifting across to the mainland.
WATCH AND ACT
Continuing 4th January 2014:
This Saturday is proving to be a long, long day: The smell of burning
timber is all pervasive and the smoke pall is getting thicker. We’ve experienced major fires before and I
know the emergency drill well, clear any debris from the gutters, lay out the
garden hoses and douse down the surrounding vegetation, pack the car with a
supply of clothes and any items we need to save…photos, personal papers, the
odd treasure or two. I don’t pile in as much as I first did some 15 or so years
ago when I later wondered what on earth I was thinking as I crammed in
paintings and books and doubtful memorabilia.
Now I shoved in just the basics, undies, change of clothes, medicines,
essential paper records, a couple of pillows and towels.
Visibility across the bay to the mainland is hampered by the billowing
smoke. Not again I thought, is Dunwich facing yet another major disaster, are
the fires creeping closer to home?
Just a short time later S.E.S. (State Emergency Services) volunteers in
their distinctive yellow uniforms begin moving door to door. In previous years the messengers had been
police men and women and the message had been in plain English. Evacuate. Lock up and go.
Both Illawong and Rainbow Crescent, the Dickson Way and the Seven Mile
SBend were in the line of fire despite extensive back burning. Now the SES people were handing out brochures
and mouthing the words Watch and Act. In
this new age of legal speak the message had been softened; householders were
now given the choice to watch closely the changing situation and act
as they saw fit. Stay and defend your
property, or leave now and ensure you live to tell the tale.
The Reluctant Traveller I know will not leave our home of 34 years. In
all the three previous fires we’ve experienced he has remained behind: Now will be no different. But again I pack up the car in between
fielding phone calls from friends in the township below, all offering sanctuary
and a bed. If we’re forcibly removed we will take up the offer.
We’ve been care taking three
chooks for friends holidaying overseas and I make a dash down town to fill up
their water and feed tins. The smoke is heavy and an eerie silence is shattered
by the wail of sirens and the constant whine of helicopter rotors landing and
taking off from the old high school grounds just below us.
Driving the Tazi Road back up the hill to home I pass through the road
blocks; access will soon be prevented and anyone leaving Rainbow or Illawong
Crescents will no longer be allowed to return.
Residents in the smaller hamlet of Myora on the road to Pt Lookout have
been evacuated. The secondary fire in
the middle of the island has broken through containment lines and now threatening
homes and businesses to the north.
This news sparks an uneasy feeling; we’ve seen fires hovering in this
direction in years past. The winding
Rainbow Crescent is perched above Dunwich township, above us separated by thick
bush is Illawong Crescent, behind Illawong is the perched Brown Lake with golf
club and radar tower beyond them. When
winds change direction this entire section becomes very volatile.
Along with our neighbours we now realise we have fire to the south of
us and to the east. For the time being though
the threat is greater from the south.
Looking south from Dunwich
Sunday 5th January 2014:
The pall of smoke is even thicker, the heat of this hot summer day
dictating the need for a cooling breeze and open windows. Neighbours who like us have opted to stay,
pop by, friends from Dunwich below us arrive, we sit in the relatively cool
shade at the front of our house.
Conversation is drowned by the noise of helicopter blades and
engines. A few tinnies are opened, we
still have ice and an esky; it’s almost like a party, an ordinary day of
rest. But this one is marred by constant
movement of fire trucks up and down the street, their destination the water
tower just a few doors away, the water supply for all of Dunwich.
Beyond the water tower is bush and dirt tracks; more fodder for a hungry
fire.
When our friends drive back down
to Dunwich the entrance to Rainbow is blocked off. We can still leave but we will not be allowed
back in. I choose to stay with the
Reluctant Traveller. We have no power
and no generator but we do have a gas stove.
Smoke is blanketing suburban Brisbane and friends over there phone
through the night checking to see how the island is faring.
The wind changes pushing the southern fires north closer to Dunwich,
then suddenly a fire near Myora, a few miles north of Dunwich breaks container
lines and the residents of this small settlement are evacuated back to Dunwich.
Sunday 5th January 2014:
The Myora fire is contained with no loss of property and residents are
allowed home. (In all our friends in Myora will survive three such moves.) The
northerly is expected to freshen and now the defence of Dunwich is accelerated
with frantic back burning to create a buffer zone to the east.
The firies both our local teams and the mainland crews are mounting day
and night surveillance and back burning.
Temperatures are high and their fire fighting uniforms are thick and
cumbersome, we are all aware of the job they are doing and say a private prayer
for their safety. In the back of
everyone’s mind is the tragedy of the Victorian fires, a dark thought we avoid
sharing.
Down in the community hall the auxiliary Red Cross team is handing out
refreshment. In the Minjerriba Respite
Centre their air-conditioning is running nonstop courtesy of the emergency
generators from Energex and inside 50 or so of our senior citizens, especially
those with breathing problems, are sheltering.
That night, without power we sit a while in the darkness jumping up
every now and then to check the red glows growing larger to both the south and
the east of us. The smoke is thick and
everything is permeated with the smell.
The wind is blowing and we know the firies are doing their best to
establish that protective back burn. The
helicopter rotors are silent, their amazing dare devil pilots will resume their
water bombing at first light.
Straddie skyline
alight - viewed from Moreton Bay.
I sleep in my clothes, fitfully, stirring every few moments to listen
to the eerie quiet of the night, the stirring of wind through the trees. Beside me the Reluctant Traveller is wide
awake too. In between times we each
creep out of bed to stand outside in the street, trying to judge if the red
glow has widened, if the flames have leapt over the hills. Neither one of us
acknowledges the other is awake. There
are anxious moments best left in silence.
Around midnight the power suddenly flashes on, we reconnect the frig
and mouth a quiet thank you to the power people who have worked so tirelessly
to keep the island going.
Monday 6th January 2014:
Storms are forecast and we hopefully watch the horizon as the sky
darkens. A series of intense storm cells
accompanied by wind gusts reaching 90km/h wreak havoc on the mainland but bring
a welcome dumping of rain to Straddie.
We listen to the rain falling through the night and imagine the flames
retreating. 50-60 mm of rain falls in a relatively short time but authorities
warn that is a help but the island isn’t out of the woods yet.
The fickle winds push first from the north and then turn into howling
gales from the south. The fires around
Brown Lake re-intensify and again we’re faced with thick smoke and the never
ending take off and landing of helicopters.
But this turns out to be a mere hiccup and we sense an end is in sight.
Tuesday 7th January 2014: The wind has changed, this time
favourably, the fires are still burning confined now to the bush, but Dunwich has
survived…yet again.
The clearing storms
of Monday photographed from Pt Lookout.
***
A LESSON TO KEEP IN MIND
This photograph of a koala
was taken by Elliot Birkbeck and included in his blog series on Straddie. In the aftermath of these disastrous fires the
likely fate of this beautiful creature is too terrible to contemplate.
The danger to the townships has passed but the fires on Straddie will
linger for a few weeks yet. It is estimated that 60% of the island’s bush land
has been burnt and destroyed. It will
take a long time for the trees and scrub to re-establish. The loss of wild life will be almost
impossible to put into numbers but we do know the toll will be high.
University of Queensland wildlife ecologist Dr Greg Baxter in a news
report today says the island’s population of koalas, gliders, native rats, goannas,
ants, snakes, lizards and birds of prey had been ravaged by the current
bushfire and would take two decades to recover. It is a sobering thought. Dr Baxter added that another severe fire on
Straddie within five years would see some animal species vanish from the
island.
In this instance the fires were not the result of human
negligence. Nevertheless residents and
visitors alike must take this recent event as a warning to be ever vigilant
when lighting a camp fire, extinguishing a cigarette. From small wisps of smouldering ash huge
fires erupt. Next time we may not be as
lucky, next time we might lose both property and human lives… and could see the
effective destruction of Stradbroke’s wild life population.
Along with fellow residents of North Stradbroke Island I am extremely
grateful to members of our Volunteer Rural Fire Brigade, to the many members of
the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, to the numerous men and women
volunteers from the State Emergency Services, to our local Policemen and to the
extra police personnel from the mainland, to the Queensland Ambulance Service
and to the staff of our own local Marie Rose Medical Centre, to the amazing
workers at the Minjerriba Respite Centre, to the caring staff at the Nareeba
Moopi Moopi Pa Hospice for the Aged, to the Ladies of Straddie’s Red Cross
auxiliary service, to the staff of the Redlands City Council, to National Park
Rangers, to Straddie Ferries and a huge thank you to Energex, without their
emergency generators the Reluctant Traveller and I along with the entire island
would have been kept in the dark for the entire duration.
And of course to friends and relations, both on the island, mainland and overseas who gave comfort and sympathy to those on the Island.
If I have misrepresented or not given due acknowledgement on an event,
organisation or instance in the life of this fire the fault is entirely my own
and I do apologize.
*
Robyn Mortimer January 2014.
